


A Debt, Repaid

by intersstellar



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Major Character Injury, Mind Manipulation, One Shot, Pre-Book 7: Kingdom of Ash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:27:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24867583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intersstellar/pseuds/intersstellar
Summary: Yrene thinks she's meeting the woman who changed her life, but Aelin is gone and Lysandra doesn't remember her. When Aelin returns, Yrene is the one to bring her back from the brink.Takes place before Kingdom of Ash, after the events of Tower of Dawn and Empire of Storms.
Relationships: Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien & Yrene (Throne of Glass), Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien/Rowan Whitethorn, Chaol Westfall/Yrene
Comments: 2
Kudos: 33





	A Debt, Repaid

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this more than a year ago when Kingdom of Ash hadn't come out yet. It had hit me that Yrene was about to have a life-changing moment with Lysandra, instead of Aelin, and I wondered if she would notice. I thought then that Yrene would be the one to heal Aelin first, and that Yrene would have acted as a tether for her during her torture. It's sort of short, but I hope you enjoy!

Yrene was going to be sick.

She and Chaol had just recently arrived in Erilea, bringing an armada from the southern continent with them. They had met with Aelin’s crew at a minuscule inn, set on a wisp of a dirt road surrounded by an austere forest.

Aelin Ashryver Galathynius. Queen of Terrasen.

Yrene had learned her story on the boat that had taken her here, told by Chaol and a few guards who had come from Terrasen. She learned about Celaena Sardothien, about the competition by the King of Adarlan, and how she went away to a faraway land and came back wielding her magic. Yrene finally learned the name of that kind stranger who had turned her life around, all those years ago.

And now… now Yrene was to meet her.

Her dress hissed against the floor as she strode down the long hallway. Thoughts tumbled through her head—about the dire state of her hair, the fact that she probably didn’t smell the best after the voyage, the faded green colour of her dress, which she’d chosen that morning. What did one wear when meeting their saviour, the person that had given everything when she had nothing at all?

What did one wear when meeting a queen?

Her legs trembled, her hands shook. She was almost ready to bolt down the hallway when she reached the door. Before she could turn away, Yrene knocked twice and waited.

No reply came for a second, then another. And another. Not until Yrene had just about decided that no one was there, and that she should just come back tomorrow. Or never.

But then—a thump and the shifting of fabric, and the door opened at last.

Aelin Galathynius turned away from the door, not even giving Yrene a glance before she walked back into the room. “Chaol, don’t stand in the doorway like some you’re too honourable to come in a lady’s chambers, this isn’t Adarlan—”

Yrene froze. “I-I'm—I’m not—”

Aelin stilled. She whirled around, pinning Yrene with her focused gaze. She smiled lightly, twirling a strand of blonde hair between her fingers.“Who,” she said, coming to lean on the doorframe, “are you, then?” 

Yrene’s heart plummeted. Aelin didn’t remember. But—of course she didn’t remember, Yrene thought quickly. It was almost three years ago, and Yrene had changed. A lot. It was okay.

Her eyes caught on a tattoo on Aelin’s forearm, stark against her pale skin. Noticing her gaze, Aelin crossed her arms.

She swallowed. “My name is Yrene Towers.” A blank look. Yrene didn’t let it discourage her as she looked down and dug in her pocket, bringing out the aged note Aelin had given her all those years ago. Aelin squinted at it, but no recognition flashed in those gold-rimmed eyes. 

Shame shot through her like a burning lance. Yrene snatched the note away from her scarred hands, stammering, “Nevermind, it was a long time ago—it’s okay—it was nice meeting you, your highness." 

Then she took off down the hall.

Chaol was furious.

He banged on Aelin’s door. She opened the door, somehow unchanged by the months that separated them, and drawled, "Oh, now it’s you.”

She looked exactly like before he had gone away. Those cunning blue eyes, that tone that drove him mad—yes, Aelin was exactly the same.

“What did you say to my wife?”

Aelin plopped down on the bed, stretching her legs out in front of her and tucking her hands behind her head. She lifted her eyebrows. “Wife?”

Chaol stormed inside. “Yes, wife. What did you say to her?”

Aelin dragged her eyes to his, a look of glorious boredom on her face. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”

He came to stand beside the bed. “My wife comes into our room, absolutely devastated, saying she spoke to you. What did you—?” He trailed off, his eyes caught on her forearm. “That tattoo is new.”

“Maybe it is.”

He took a step back. “That’s a tattoo for a pleasure house in Rifthold. You didn't—you never worked there.” His eyes widened. 

She slung her legs off the bed and stood. He stumbled back, a hand reaching for the hilt of his sword.

“You didn’t recognize Yrene... You’re not Aelin.”

The woman’s features morphed into one another, transforming until a completely different person was standing in front of him. “My name is Lysandra,” she said.

“What are you?” he spat.

“Aelin has been captured. She asked me to take her place.”

“Captured by who?”

Lysandra swallowed. “Maeve.”

* * *

Yrene sprinted across the hospital grounds, her red-stained apron flapping in the musty wind.

She had been posted at a war hospital nearest to the sea border, where she treated the most severe cases. She liked to talk to the soldiers while she worked, distracting them from the pain she couldn’t stop due to lack of supplies. They were kind, and loyal. Yrene had the chance to save every single one of them.

Because of her schooling—because of Aelin.

Aelin, who had been gone for three months, hidden in some forgotten cave. Yrene prayed every night that her warrior prince would find her. Antica’s gods were sick of her cries.

Yrene froze as a shape bounded across the muddy field, startling everyone around it. Her heart quickened as she saw what it was—a white wolf, coming straight for her. She leaped out of the way, waiting for it to trample past. It paused in front of her, then, in a flash of light, turned into a man. His clothes were muddy, his face grimy, and beneath his overgrown, stringy hair were long ears—Fae.

Yrene didn’t move an inch as she beheld the Fae warrior standing in front of her. Out of breath, he said, “We found her.”

Yrene’s jaw dropped, and she quickly closed it. “Where is she?”

“By the shore, there’s an inn—”

Yrene knew which one he was talking about. There was only one nearby, after all. “Tell the head healer I’m gone!” she said over her shoulder, already running.

Aelin was unconscious when Yrene arrived.

She wrestled past the white-haired Fae prince at the door, whom she also berated until he told her how long Aelin had been that way, and how long the voyage back had been. She told the prince to wait outside, her hands on her hips, and explaining who she was and how much faster his princess would be healed if Yrene could do her work in peace. The male left the room.

Then Yrene set to work.

She didn’t let herself feel anything at all while she worked. A good healer didn’t get emotional. Everything was merely a fact. The patient’s wounds spread across her back and shoulders. The deeper wounds on the patient’s back were infected. The patient was not allergic to the herbs Yrene made her swallow.

Quickly and efficiently, Yrene did her work. She stitched the worst of the cuts shut, scanning for any bits of debris that might interrupt the healing process.

When Yrene finally finished with the last of the scrapes, the sun was long gone. She didn’t let the Fae prince in, for fear that he’d never leave again. She pulled a chair up beside the bed and slept as lightly as she could, occasionally opening an eye to make sure the princess was okay.

The sun was almost rising again when Aelin’s breathing changed. Yrene sat up so quickly in her chair that black spots stained her vision, quickly disappearing.

Aelin blinked and Yrene stepped slowly toward her, letting her take in her surroundings before Yrene came too close. Blue-and-gold eyes found Yrene’s face. Widened a little. Stared, for a second.

Then looked away. Aelin groaned.

Only her many years of practice stopped Yrene’s hands from shaking as anxiety poured through her. She took a breath, pulled herself back into the calm, collected healer mindset. “Are you thirsty?” she asked.

Aelin looked up at the ceiling, her body still. Then, voice cracking and wheezy, she said, “Stop.”

Yrene stilled every muscle in her body, tried to calm her heart so that her fear-filled scent couldn’t be picked up by Aelin’s Fae senses. Yrene whispered, “Aelin?”

Tears lined Aelin’s eyes. She looked only upwards, ignoring Yrene. “Maeve, you don’t dig this deep.”

Yrene’s heart broke. “Aelin—”

“Stop it,” Aelin cried. “You took everything. My mate. My people. My mother and father. You will not take good from me. You won’t. I’m done.” She sobbed, not even strong enough to lift her arms and wipe away the tears. “You won’t take good from me. I’m done.”

She sobbed quietly, seeming to cave into herself. Yrene rushed forward, touching her thin shoulder. “Aelin,” she said quietly, “this is real.” Aelin met her gaze. “Here, sit up.” Yrene grabbed pillows from the other side of the bed, helping Aelin sit up without breaking the stitches on her back. “Look around. You’ve never seen this room before.”

Aelin stayed quiet, looking around the room. “I can make things up,” she whispered.

Yrene swallowed. “I know. But you’ve never seen me in a healer’s uniform, have you?” Yrene reached into her pocket, pulling out Aelin’s note. _The world needs more healers. _“You gave me this, remember?” Aelin’s eyes caught on that note. Yrene gently grabbed her thin, scarred hand and brought it up to feel the worn paper. “Feel it? It’s old. I carry it with me every day. You’ve never felt it before, because when you have it to me, it was brand new.”__

____

“I remember,” Aelin said. In the back of Yrene's mind, tears threatened to break her wall of composure. 

____

“You—you gave me money to go to school.” Yrene reached and grabbed a bottle from the assortment of vials on the bedside table. She placed it under Aelin’s nose. “This is an ointment I like to use. You’ve never smelled it before, because it's—it’s from Antica.”

____

“Antica?” Aelin breathed, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

____

Yrene smiled. “Antica. It’s where I went with the money you gave me. It’s where I studied. It’s beautiful there. I think of it every day. I think of how I’m so lucky to have gone there.”

____

She placed the vial on the table again. “Do you see, Aelin? This is real.”

____

Aelin’s eyes were wide. “This is real.” A smile pulled at her cheeks, and Yrene realized that she hadn’t done that in so long she might have almost forgotten what a smile was. Aelin’s eyes shot to Yrene’s, a familiar sharpness coming back to them. “R-Rowan?”

____

“Real,” said Yrene.

____

Aelin’s smile blossomed into a grin, and she threw her head back on the pillows. “Real,” she laughed. “Real.”

____

Aelin looked at Yrene, flipping her callused hand over to hold the healer’s. “I thought of you,” Aelin said. “I thought of you, sometimes. Maeve—” Her voice broke. “Maeve took everything. She twisted things around until they weren’t good anymore. But sometimes, when she tried to change my own story so that I was the villain, I thought of you. I thought of that time, in Innish, and how I gave you that money. And that… that reminded me of how good I was." She shuddered. "How even though I did unspeakable things, there was a healer, far away, who was helping people. And sometimes, when I was starting to believe all of Maeve's lies, I thought that maybe I was damned, but the world would be okay, because there was a healer saving someone for each life I took.

____

"I—I knew there was still good in the world, and it was coming from you.”

____

Yrene was shaking, her tears coming in waves and dropping onto their joined hands. “I thought of you too,” she said. “I didn’t know who you were. I didn’t know what you’d done. But when I thought I wasn’t worth being in that beautiful city, I remembered that you were counting on me to do my job. So I did.”

____

Yrene stood, setting Aelin’s hand on the blanket. She opened the door. The prince was on the other side, no doubt listening in. She nodded, and didn’t bother saying a word as he pushed past her, running for his mate. 

____

As Yrene left the room, she looked back, just once. The princess was looking at her, a smile still on her face, tears streaming from her eyes, as she was engulfed in a hug by her prince. _Thank you _, she mouthed.__

______ _ _

Yrene slipped out of the room.

______ _ _

A debt, repaid.

______ _ _


End file.
